Coming Soon, Anna Netrebko - Verismo

Deutsche Grammophon yesterday announced details of a very exciting new project from Russian soprano Anna Netrebko (including artwork that makes it a strong contender for our Record Cover of the Year Award!): she’ll be joining forces with Sir Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra dell’ Accademia di Santa Cecilia in a programme of arias from some of the best-known verismo operas – a natural progression, perhaps, from her much-praised collection of Verdi arias three years ago.

Since the release of that Verdi album (a Gramophone Editor's Choice back in October 2013, and a Presto Disc of the Week), Netrebko’s been steadily taking on more dramatic roles in the theatre, including Lady Macbeth and Leonora in Il Trovatore (both of which featured on the disc in excerpt) and Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, and has most recently received rapturous reviews for her first Wagner role, Elsa in Lohengrin: Opera News observed that ‘her plush voice seemed to glow from within, with relentless dramatic sweep and surge and ravishing dark shadings’.

The new disc will include arias from operas by Puccini (Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly and Tosca), Giordano (Andrea Chénier) and Cilea (Adriana Lecouvreur), all of which Netrebko has yet to sing on stage - she'll tackle Manon Lescaut in Vienna and Salzburg this summer, followed by a run at the Metropolitan Opera opposite Marco Alvarez in November and December.

There'll also be several cameos from Netrebko's new husband, Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov, whom she married in Vienna at the end of last year; an exciting singer in his own right, Eyvazov's recent engagements have included Calaf at The Met, the Mariinsky Theatre and the Wiener Staatsoper, and he will sing opposite Netrebko later this year in Manon Lescaut in Salzburg and Macbeth in Munich.

VERISMO is due out on Deutsche Grammophon in September.

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